1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for arranging and piling cigarettes, which every time arranges cigarettes side by side to form a plurality cigarette layers each consisting of a predetermined number of cigarettes, for example, three cigarette layers consisting of the lower layer of seven cigarettes, the intermediate layer of six cigarettes and the upper layer of seven cigarettes; and which each time piles the cigarette layers on one after another in a staggered manner to form a cigarette stack consisting of a predetermined number of cigarette layers, for example, a cigarette stack consisting of the above-mentioned three layers including twenty cigarettes in total. This invention is intended to provide an apparatus for arranging and piling cigarettes, which arranges cigarettes at a high speed and is operated with enhanced reliability.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a cigarette wrapping system, there has been used a cigarette piling apparatus which arranges, side by side, cigarettes to form a plurality of cigarette layers, the total number of cigarettes of these cigarette layers corresponding to the number of cigarettes to be included in a cigarette package, and which piles these cigarette layers on one after another to form a cigarette stack. For example, the apparatus arranges seven, six and seven cigarettes side by side as separate layers and piles them in a staggered manner to form a cigarette stack consisting of the three layers. The cigarette stack is transferred to the following wrapping apparatus.
The conventional apparatus for arranging and piling cigarettes includes a hopper in which a great number of cigarettes are placed in parallel to each other but randomly. To the bottom portion of the hopper are connected cigarette supplying passages whose number is equal to the number of cigarettes in a cigarette package to be formed, for example, twenty. Each cigarette supplying passage has a width slightly larger than the diameter of a cigarette and extends generally vertically. The upper end of each passage is connected to the bottom portion of hopper and communicates therewith. In the hopper is provided an agitator which rotates the cigarettes in the hopper and raises them. The raised cigarettes are supplied to the cigarette supplying passages, aligned in the passages and drop by their weight.
At the lower end portion of the passages is provided a cigarette receiving drum which rotates to receive cigarettes one by one from each passage and transfer the cigarettes to a plurality of (for example, three) cigarette arranging drums. Each cigarette receiving drum is provided in the peripheral wall thereof with cigarette holding grooves whose number is equal to the number of the corresponding cigarette layer of a cigarette stack to be formed. For example, the first, second and third cigarette arranging drums have seven, six and seven grooves, respectively, and the cigarette arranging grooves of each cigarette arranging drum are arranged adjacent to one after another. The cigarettes delivered from the cigarette receiving drum to the respective cigarette arranging grooves of the respective cigarette arranging drums and are sucked in the grooves under a negative pressure, for example, and held therein.
A cigarette piling drum is disposed adjacent to the cigarette arranging drums and is provided on the outer peripheral portion with a plurality of cigarette piling heads. As the cigarette piling drum rotates, its cigarette piling heads pass by the cigarette arranging drums in turn. When the heads pass by the first, second and third cigarette arranging drums, a first group of side-by-side arranged seven cigarettes used as the lower cigarette layer of a cigarette stack to be formed, a second group of side-by-side arranged six cigarettes used as the intermediate layer of the cigarette stack and a third group of side-by-side arranged seven cigarettes used as the upper layer of the cigarette stack are simultaneously transferred from the first to third cigarette arranging drums to the cigarette piling head, in turn. In this way, a cigarette stack of three layers consisting of seven, six and seven cigarettes, respectively, is piled on the head. The twenty cigarettes thus piled are transferred to the following wrapping apparatus.
Recently, the cigarette manufacturing machines have been operated at a high speed in order to manufacture extremely large number of cigarettes in a unit time. Practically, the processes starting from the cigarette manufacture and ending at the wrapping of the cigarettes are carried out on a single processing line. Therefore, the speed-up of cigarette manufacture requires a high speed side-by-side arrangement and cigarette piling. However, it was difficult to increase the operational speed of the conventional apparatuses.
There are several causes which hinders the speed-up of the conventional apparatus for arranging and piling cigarettes. The representative cause is that it is difficult to reduce the diameter of the cigarette piling drum. As a matter of course, a large diameter of the cigarette piling drum increases its weight, making it difficult to rotate the drum at a higher speed. Thus its diameter must be reduced.
However, the cigarette piling drum cannot be rendered small so much by the following reason. In the apparatus for arranging and piling cigarettes, three cigarette arranging drums are arranged close to and around a cigarette piling drum. Seven or six cigarette receiving drums are provided around each cigarette arranging drum. The end portions of the cigarette supplying passages are disposed close to the cigarette receiving drums.
The upper end portions of the cigarette supplying passages open at the bottom portion of the hopper. In order that cigarettes placed randomly in the hopper are smoothly supplied to the cigarette supplying passages, the openings of the upper end portions of the cigarette supplying passages must be separated from each other to some extent. The cigarettes are moved downward by their own weight in an aligned state in the passages. Thus, it is most preferred that the passages be linear and extend vertically
The distance between the adjacent cigarette receiving drums placed at the lower end portions of the passages must be made large and these drums must be arranged linearly in a horizontal direction so that the above-mentioned conditions for the shape and arrangement of the cigarette supplying passages are almost satisfied. Thus, the cigarette arranging drums must have a large diameter and must be separated largely from each other. Further, the cigarette piling drum must also have a large diameter.
As will be understood from the above-mentioned description, the generally linear and generally vertical arrangement of the cigarette supplying passages requires a large diameter of the cigarette piling drum. This limits the rotational speed of the cigarette piling drum and makes it difficult to operate the apparatus at a high speed. If the diameter of the cigarette piling drum were reduced to increase the speed of the drum, the separation between the cigarette arranging drums and between the cigarette receiving drums would be made small. As a result, the cigarette supplying passages would have to be arcuated or bent. This would hinder the smooth supply of cigarettes to the cigarette supplying passages and cause the cigarettes to be clogged in the cigarette supplying passages, thereby lowering the operational reliability.